Tag: Calshot

Calshot 2021: Day 3

Another very busy day at Calshot. After a good night’s sleep everyone was ready to try some new activities on a cloudy but humid day.

Breakfast was the same as Tuesday with plenty of choice, and soon we were off on morning activities. For many of the groups this involved initiative tests and the team swing. The initiative tests were great because they really forced the children to work as a team and to think carefully. What really impressed me was how each team improved dramatically after a less than impressive start and one group produced the best performance I’d ever seen on the mushroom test.

The team swing consisted of two children being hoisted up on a giant swing and then released. This was a lot of fun, but appeared quite challenging and scary at first. Everyone had a go and many of the children went to the very highest setting before being released.

Lunch involved hot dogs and spicy wedges before a quick turnaround and an afternoon of sailing and kayaking. Conditions were perfect and the children (and some of the adults) had a great time before cooling off in the Solent at the end.

After a roast chicken (or pasta) dinner the children went off to either Rushing Rockets or the Egg Drop. By 8.30pm everyone was completed exhausted and needed a good sleep.

The final day will involve more skiing, climbing shooting and team swing before we have lunch and then head back to Liss for 3.30pm.

Calshot 2021: Day 2

Day 2 dawned at Calshot and the early signs were not good. The skies were grey and it was raining steadily. However, good news was not far away: Mr Parrott led the room inspections and was pleased to report that the standard of cleanliness was very good – particularly in the boys’ rooms (cue Mums fainting in shock all over Liss). The range of excuses were brilliant this year too. When one boy was asked why there were biscuit crumbs on the floor, he replied.

“They must have fallen from the ceiling!” Somehow I don’t think this room will be winning the tidy room competition.

By the time we walked down to the canteen for breakfast, the rain had just about stopped and the skies began to lighten. Breakfast consisted of bacon, sausage, beans, hash brown, toast, yoghurt, cereals and various spreads. You could choose as much or as little as you wanted.

The morning saw everyone down at the Sopwith Hanger as half the children (Gps 1,2 & 3) were sailing and the others (Gps 4,5 & 6) were kayaking. The children spent a very active and fun morning learning these skills and applying them in various games and challenges.

Lunch was a burger in a bap with potatoes and from there we moved indoors for the afternoon. Among the activities the children took part in was climbing, shooting, archery, skiing, laser climb and ringos. The afternoon brought some fresh challenges and the children were able to relate strong feelings of satisfaction from showing the necessary resilience, resourcefulness and reciprocity when we had circle time later that afternoon.

After a busy afternoon session we had dinner which was a choice between chicken curry or mac and cheese. From there we returned to Lawrence House where Mr Frost managed to rig up his laptop to a projector just in time to see the last 20 minutes of the football and England dispatch the Germans.

The evening activities were Epic Engineering for Gps 1,2 & 3 while Gps 4,5 & 6 had the egg drop challenge. Remarkably, two of the four eggs survived the challenge due to some well thought through designs.

By this time the children were absolutely out on their feet, so when we returned to Lawrence House most of them hit the showers and went straight to bed afterwards. Lights out moved forward 15 minutes to 9.30pm and within 30 minutes Lawrence House was quiet. A very busy Wednesday awaits.

  • Euro 21 Carnage
  • Not all entries in the egg drop were successful!!!

Calshot 2021: Day 1

Hello everyone from Calshot. We had an excellent first day! We left a rainy Liss at about 9.45am and by the time we reached Calshot the sun was out and the day was heating up. We arrived and were met by Richard Birkinshaw, our course director. He gave the children a talk about what to expect over the four days with particular emphasis on staying safe with the covid restrictions. After running a quick fire drill and then unpacking, we went to lunch.

There is only one other school at Calshot (and they are leaving on Wednesday) so we had half the canteen to ourselves. Lunch was pizza and chips which appeared to go down very well. The afternoon sessions involved such activities as archery, climbing, ringos, skiing and laser climb. For many of the parents reading this ringos and laser climb won’t sound familiar at all. Basically, ringos is going down the dry ski slope in a big rubber donut with sometimes 3 donuts tethered together. Laser Climb was absolutely fascinating. A projector is used to project challenges onto a small touch-sensitive climbing wall and the children had to compete together or sometimes against each other to complete the challenges. They had a lot of fun.

The main course for dinner was bangers and mash before the children went off for their evening activities. Half took part in rampant rockets where they used water pressure to fire rockets at various targets. The other activity was Epic Engineering kits where the children had to construct the numbers 1 – 10 (trickier than it seems) and build the highest freestanding tower possible. There was some excellent teamwork and some very original (and strange) ideas.

All but a couple of children got off to sleep very quickly and everyone got a good night’s sleep ready for sailing and kayaking this morning.

Calshot 2019 – Day 3

Sorry for the relative lateness of this post – yesterday was very busy and there are a lot of very tired children and staff!

Yesterday at Calshot started with another room inspection. Again, the results were very good. A full English breakfast followed for those who wanted it before teh morning activities began. This involved shooting, skiing, climbing, orienteering and initiative tests. Once again the children impressed and Mr Frost said that Group 4 carried out the best initiative test that he had ever seen at Calshot.

Lunch was chicken wraps or pasties before another afternoon of kayaking or sailing. The weather was extremely changeable during the session, but the Caklsot staff adapeted the teaching brilliantly and all the children had a great experience.

Dinner was a chicken or vegetable curry and then the children went on to rushing rockets or team games where they learnt a new version of dodgeball.

It was a very quiet Mitchell House last night as everyone got some much needed sleep.

Calshot 2019 Day 2

Our first full day at Calshot and what a busy day it has been. The children got up at 7.15am and soon after Mr Parrott began room inspections. This may surprise some parents, but the all round standard of tidy bedrooms was very good – we’ll post some photos tomorrow.

At 8.00am, we all went down to the canteen. A full English breakfast was available and the children loaded up in anticipation of a busy morning. Activities this morning included shooting, archery, cycling, orienteering and climbing.

Lunch was choice of pizza or hotdogs before the children spent the afternoon on the water, either sailing or kayaking.

Dinner tonight was roast beef (and a birthday celebration) before the children split into two groups for either a games evening or egg drop. There was a lot of tired children by the end of today, so there will be no problem sleeping.

Tomorrow promises another full day with the weather improving further, so we’re looking forward to another day of fun and learning.

 

Calshot 2019 Day 1

Greetings to everyone from a rather soggy Calshot. This has not stopped the group from having a brilliant time today as the photos below testify.

We arrived at about 10.35am and , after unpacking, the children quickly had site orientation before lunch: a choice of Hambyrgers and chips or Spag Bol. We were quickly into the afternoon’s activities which involved shooting, archery, initiative tests, skiing or climbing depending on which group you were in. Everybody reported having a good experience – the skiing was particularly popular with the children displaying some impressive skills.

Dinner was at 6.05 – a choice of macaroni cheese or paella. From there it was a circle time to catch up on th eday before going to rushing rockets or egg drop, which are still going on as I type. The poor weather hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm or excitement and we’re looking forward to another busy day tomorrow.

 

Calshot 2018 – Day 3

It’s been an absolute scorcher today at Calshot: the rumour is that they’ve had to drop an iceberg in the sea just to cool it down! For the first time this week we awoke to bright sunshine and it didn’t take too long to warm up either. As well as the usual sausages and bacon there were omelettes available for breakfast this morning. The children and staff were extremely hungry and polished them off. The itinerary this morning was as follows: Group 1 had shooting, followed by cycle skills; Group 2 had cycle skills then archery; Group 3 initiative tests then skiing; Group 4 had archery then climbing; Group 5 had orienteering then shooting; Group 6 had archery then climbing while Group 7 had initiative tests before their second session of skiing. There were many highlights during the morning, but to pick out two I would mention the fun that Group 3 had when they were skiing – Charlie Humphrey especially. Additionally, Sam Bevan (in Group 5) showed he has potential as an SAS sniper when shooting. It didn’t matter how small the target was, Sam continued to shoot bullseyes.

Lunchtime came and went with sausage rolls or cheese and bean pasties along with a range of potatoes or pastas and a very nice cheesecake pudding. We were joined by Mrs Myers for the afternoon; she accompanied Group 7 on their sailing activity for the afternoon. Groups 1 & 2 were terrific trawling; Group 3 had ski 2 and then shooting; Group 4 had cycle skills then Ski 2. Groups 5 & 6 had kayaking all afternoon. Because it was very windy they started in the pool before moving on to the sea once the wind had dropped and the tide had come in further. With bright blue skies, it was a blissful activity.

Dinner was Italian themed with a choice between a meat or vegetarian spag bol followed by a (lush) chocolate brownie. This evening Groups 1 – 4 were had a games night while Groups 5 – 7 were building Rushing Rockets.

Tonight, we begin the process of packing as we have to be out of our rooms by 9.00am tomorrow morning : only clothing needed for tomorrow’s activities will not be packed. It’s hard to believe that we will be home in less than 24 hours!

Calshot 2018 – Day 2

 

Good evening everyone from sunny Calshot where we are currently experiencing a beautiful sunset. Everyone had a good night’s sleep and very few children were up before the scheduled wake up time of 7.15am. Breakfast was a full English, which the majority of children opted for. After that, we returned to Lawrence House for room inspections. Mr Parrott and his team reported to me that many of the children had made a good effort to keep their rooms tidy – cue puzzled parents looking at each other and saying, “Well, they don’t do that at home!”

At 9.00am the morning activities began. Groups 1 & 2 alternated between initiative tests and skiing this morning; Group 3 had climbing and archery; Group 4 had skiing and shootin where Jamine Edwards and Molly Hudson excelled; Groups 5 & 6 were terrific trawling while Group 7 had shooting and skiing. Among the stories to emerge this morning were that Jessica East is a sharpshooter and knocked down a tower of plastic cups in a single shot. Group 6 caught a couple of jellyfish when they went trawling – one of which was pregnant as it had purple rings, and Charlie Humphrey had the time of his life on the climbing wall swing.

Lunch was a choice of meatballs, enchiladas or paninis. As usual, we’ve been really impressed with the variety and amount of food on offer. We quickly moved on to the afternoons activities and Group 1 & 2 went sailing. As it was very blustery, they were accompanied out on the water by instructors rather than pairing up with their friends. Groups 3 & 4 went kayaking while Group 5 had initiative tests and then moved to the climbing wall. There are some very good climbers in Group 5, but it was also nice to see some of the first time climbers such as Holly Aynsley really do well at this activity. Group 6 spent their afternoon on cycle skills and orienteering while Group 7 went trawling.

Dinner was a choice of roast beef with all the trimmings or a quorn fillet before we went to the evening activity: egg drop. The children were split into teams and had to use limited materials to create a protective device for an egg which would be dropped from the roof of the main hanger. The eventual winners were Scarlett Leduc, Gemma Lapicki, Phoebe Hopkins and Lottie Weavis whose egg survived not one but two drops.

Lawrence House is very quiet tonight as the children sleep after a very long but enjoyable day. More news tomorrow.

 

Photos tend to be Group 5 centric. Don’t worry, other photos have been taken

Group list is published below as requested.

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Calshot 2018 – Day 1

Hello everyone from a sunny but blustery Calshot. After leaving school at about 9.25am, we had an uneventful journey reaching Calshot at 10.40am. The children dropped off their bags in their rooms before meeting their group leaders and having a tour of the site. There was then a quick fire drill before we went to lunch. Most people went for the beefburger and potato croquettes option.

Our afternoon activities began at 1.45 pm. Groups 1 & 2 went kayaking and had a lot of fun although some of the children seemed to enjoy collecting seaweed almost as much as the kayaking itself. Groups 3 & 4 had a great time sailing – an honourable mention to Bradley Downing who leapt out of his boat to help another pupil who had capsized. Group 5 spent some time on the dry ski slope with their first ski session before moving on to cycling skills. A number of the pupils loved the velodrome and wanted to go as fast as they could. Group 6 also had a ski session before developing their teamwork skills on the initiative test. Finally, Group 7 enjoyed the challenge of trying to reach the top of the climbing wall after cycling earlier in the afternoon.

Dinner was a choice of cottage pie or macaroni cheese before the children headed down to the Schneider Hanger for Rushing Rockets (Groups 1 – 4) or Games (Groups 5 – 7). Everybody seems to have settled in well and are having lots of fun. More news tomorrow night!